Mail-bag catcher



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. W MOORE, Jr. MAIL BAG GATGHER.

No. 481,654. Patented Aug. 30, 1892.

WITNESSE'S @d mq (No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G.--W. MOORE, J1. MAIL BAG GATCHER.

No. 481,654. Patented Aug. 30, 1892. V

[NYE/V702? fo. 1% 277m):

.71 llormyl UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. MOORE, JR., OF LYNOHBURG, VIRGINIA.

MAIL-BAG CATCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 481,654, dated August 30, 1892.

Application filed May 3, 1892.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. Moons, J r., a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynchburg, in the county of Campbell and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the iuvention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a new and improved device designed to be used for automatically delivering to and receiving fromamoving train mail-matter and ordinarily denominated mail-bag catchers, and has for its object to provide such a device that will with certainty and automatically deliver mail from the car and simultaneously collect the mail from stations along the route, and that shall be capable of being thrown into a position to oifer no obstruction when loading the car or that can be removed to one side of the car from the other without loss of time.

To these ends my invention consists in the novel construction and arrangements of parts hereinafter fully described, and afterward definitely pointed out in the claims, due reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of a part of a car, showing my improved device applied thereto; Fig. 2, a detail view of the device re moved, the bearing-blocks not being shown;

- Figs. 8, 4, 5, and 6, perspective views of the parts composing the bearing-blocks; and Fig. 7, a side elevation, partly in section, of the device designed to be used at the stations.

Referring to the drawings, the letter A indicates a shaft mounted in bearings secured to each side of the door-frame of a car in the manner hereinafter described and capable of being rotated therein. Rigidly secured to said shaft is an arm B, whose outer end is forked and provided with two laterally-projecting hooks b 1), extending in opposite directions. Near its outer end said arm B is provided with a cross bar or rod 0, which pro- Serial No. 431,662. (No model.)

jects laterally upon both sides of said arm, for the purpose to be presently described.

To the shaft A are secured lugs or ears (I (1, within which is pivoted a lever D, provided near its outer end with a cross bar or rod 0, which projects laterally upon both sides of said arm.

The mail-bag to be delivered from the car is provided at top and bottom with loops, as usual, which are hooked over the cross bars or rods 0 C, as will presently appear.

The opposite ends of the shaft A are reduced, as at a a, and at each extremity is provided with a spline E, preferably dovetailed in cross-section. The reduced portions a a of the shaft A are mounted in bearingblocks F, secured to each side of the cardoor frame and constructed as follows: Each bearing block F consists of an inner and an outer block, lettered f and f, respectively. The adjoining faces of said blocks are each provided with a semicircular groove G, which, when the blocks are secured together in place, forms a bearing for the reduced endsaof the shaft A. The grooves G terminate in double recesses II, as shown in Figs. 3,4, and 5, and of such shape that when the two blocks f and f are brought face to face and the end a of the shaft journaled therein the lower half of the shaft will be supported in a semicircular bearing, while its upper half and the spline E will lie in a semicircular recess of considerablygreater diameter, thus permitting the shaft to have a substantially half-rotation in the bearing-blocks.

Theblocks f and f are secured to the doorframe and detachably to each other in the following manner: The inner blockf is provided with bolt-holes J J and the outer block f with two slots j j. Threaded bolts are passed through the door-frame and through the bolt-holes J J of the block f. The block f is then slipped over the bolts by means of the slots jj, and the ends a of the shaft A having first been secured between the grooved and recessed faces of the blocks nuts are ap-- plied to the threaded ends of the bolts, and by tightening them up the blocks f and f, to all practical purposes, form solid bearings for the ends of the shaft. The ends of the bolts are preferably split, and after the nuts have been applied thereto are spread to prevent i the nuts from becoming lost. Sufficient room track railways, as on single-track roads the device will always be upon iheoutsideof the track.

The shaftA near one end is grooved longitudinally, as at K, Within which groove is pivoted one end of a locking-lever 70, adapted to lie insaid groove, and one of the bearingplates, as f, is provided with a recess 73, said locking-lever and recess being so arranged with relation to each other that the lever k is adapted to drop by gravity into said recess when the shaft'A is in acertain position and lock said shaft against rotation. The free end of the locking-lever lo projects beyond the inner edge of the bearing-block Within easy reach of the operator.

If desired, a handle L may be secured to the shaftA for operating the same.

Atthe' stations along the line where mailis to be delivered and collected by thetrain a device constructed as follows willbe erected:

M indicates a post, to the upper part. of

which is pivoted a lever N, weighted at one end, as oz, andprovided. at its other end with a cross bar or rod 0, projecting laterally upon both sides of said lever. of the post is pivoted an arm P, forked at its free end and provided with twolaterally-projecting hooks p 9, extending in opposite directions, and near its end said arm Pis provided with a cross bar or rod 0, similar to that secured to the lever N. I

From the foregoing description theoperation of my improved device will be readily understood.

IVhen not in use the arm B is swung up into a vertical position, the-ends of the hooks b b" resting against the frame of the car, in

which position the arm is held by the locking-lever'lc, resting in therecess it, formed in the bearing-block. Upon approaching'a station the mail agent selects the proper pouch or bag and slips one of the loops secured to its top and bottom over the end of the cross bar or rod 0 that projects toward the rear of the car. The lever D is then swung up upon its pivot and the loop on the opposite end of the bag slipped over the cross bar or rod C in the manner above described. The lockinglever is is then released from the recess is in the bearing-block by pressing it in the groove K and the shaft A partially rotated, so as to swing the arm B to a horizontal position, in which position it is held by the spline E upon the ends of the shaft. In the meanwhile the To the lower part postmaster at the station (or other -mail agent) has hung a bag containing the mail to be delivered to the car upon the lever N and arm P upon the post M. As the train approaches said post the hook upon the arm B catches the center of the bag suspended from the. post M and liftsit from off the rods 0 i and O, and at the same time the hook upon the arm P of the post M catches the center of thebag suspended from the arm B andle- .verD and lifts it from off the pins 0 and C. As soon as the bag is released from the lever N and arm P of the post M the weighted end of the lever N swings said lever up into a nearly perpendicular position out of the way and the arm P drops down by gravity. mail agent upon theicar thenthrows the arm B back to its perpendicular position, where .it is lockedv by the locking-lever. k, as before described, and removes the bag.

The

, D may be turned up toaivertical position, its

upper end resting against the arm B, in which position itis outof the way and the entire 'lower half'of the doorway unobstructed for v the passage of the mail bags or pouches.

' Having thus fully described the construction. and operation of my invention, whatI ,1 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a mail-bag catcher,,the. combination,

with a shaft mountedin suitable bearings,of

lan arm secured thereto and provided with a ,double hook andallever pivoted directly to Isaid shaft, said arm andlever being provided.

3 with rods projectinglaterally upon both sides. of the same, substantially as set forth.

3 with a shaft mounted in suitable bearings, of

lan arm secured thereto and provided with a l double hook, a lever pivoted directly to said I shaft, said arm and lever being each provided K with a rod projecting, laterally on both sides ;of the same,.the said shaft being capable of a partial rotation in its bearings,whereby the said arm may be adjusted toa horizontal or vertical position, and means for holding said arm in either of itsv adjusted positions, substantially as set forth.

3. In a mail-bag catcher, the combination, with a shaft detachably mounted in suitable bearings, of an arm secured thereto and provided with two hooks extending in opposite j directions, a lever pivoted to said shaft, said 1 arm and lever being each provided with a rod projecting,v laterally upon both sides of the same, said shaft having a partial rotation in its bearings to swing said lever fromv a vertical to a horizontal position, shoulders upon the end of the shaft engaging recesses in the bearings for holding the arm in a horizontal position, and a locking-lever for holding the arm in a perpendicular position, as set forth. 4. In a mail-bag catcher, thecombination of .the shaft A, carrying. a fixed hooked arm B" and a pivoted lever D, said arm and lever bein g respectively provided with laterally-pro- 2. In a mail-bag catcher,,the combination,

IIO

jecting rods C O for holding a maiLbag, and separable bearing-blocks F, one member of which is detachable from the other, in which the ends of the shaft are journaled, whereby the device can be removed from its bearings on one door-frame and journaled in the opposite door-frame, substantially as set forth.

5. In a mail-bag catcher, the combination, with the shaft A, carrying the fixed hooked arm B, having rod 0, and pivoted lever D, having rod 0, splines E, arranged upon each end of the shaft, and the bearing-blocks F, provided with bearings for the ends of the shaft and with double recesses H, within which said splines lie and serve to hold the shaft in a position to support the arm B in a horizon tal position, substantially as set forth.

6. In a mail-bag catcher, the combination, with the shaft A, carrying the fixed hooked arm B, having rod 0, and pivoted lever D, having rod 0, the bearing-blocks F, in which the ends of said shaft are journaled, the lookinglever is, pivoted within a groove formed in one end of the shaft, and a recess 70 in one of said bearing-blocks for the reception of said locking-lever, whereby the shaft is locked in position to support the arm Bin a vertical position, substantially as set forth.

7. In combination with the shaft A, arm 13, having red O, and lever D, having rods 0', the bearing-blocks F, each consisting of the blocks f f provided upon their adjacent faces with half-bearings for the ends of the shaft, the block f being provided with two boltholes and the block f with two open slots in alignment with said bolt-holes, and bolts passing through the said bolt-holes and slots, secured therein by nuts, all constructed and arranged whereby the block f may be detached from the block f without removing the bolts, for the purpose specified.

Intestimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. MOORE, JR. Witnesses:

J. F. GORDON, FRANK STEVENS. 

